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Dear Reader,
The tragic death of 14 civilians and a soldier in the botched counter-insurgency operations by the Assam Rifles in the Mon district of Nagaland, last week, has caused national anger, anguish and shock.
Arguing that the “horrific massacre” was caused by the criminal violation of laid down procedures by army officers overseeing the operation, Swarajya calls for “heads to roll” and criminal prosecution of those responsible for the tragedy, if Nagaland is to be stopped from sliding back into a bruising insurgency that it witnessed for decades.
An op-ed column in EastMojo argues that the state of strife between security forces and the Nagas is largely the result of the extension of a colonial mindset. It asserts that this posture is bolstered and entrenched by the misuse of AFSPA, which provides for immunity for the security forces with scant accountability.
As we debate the wisdom of retaining colonial-era sedition laws on our statuettes, one of the remedies suggested has been a more exacting interpretation of what constitutes an offence under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. Article 14 analyses the database of sedition cases and tells us why the dilution of the law or mere creation of “guidelines” in enforcing it will be a flawed exercise and will change nothing.
The Probe, meanwhile, talks to citizens arraigned under the sedition law, prominent civil rights activists, lawyers and journalists on everything that is wrong and draconian with the sedition law and the UAPA.
The rising cases of the Omicron variant raise fears of an imminent third wave in India. Mojo Story discusses the severity of the variant, and goes into critical questions. Is the new variant more virulent than Delta? Is our health system capable of handling a potential surge? Has the time come to mandate two compulsory jabs and should we launch a booster-shot effort ?
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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